Choices 12. Down the Drain - 2

Is “cheap” clothing really such a bargain, when we consider our health, wealth and planet?
What are the costs of our fashion addiction?
What can we do about it?​

In this episode, we continue on One-Health exploring microfibres that are shed from our clothes and the chemicals we use to wash them...

Fashion.  We love fashion – the colours, the textures. And, often, it is so incredibly cheap! How could we resist? It almost seems too good to be true, and of course, as for many such things, perhaps it is. We hear more and more about the social costs of fast fashion – the child labour, the sweatshops but in this episode we're focussing on the environmental impacts of making and disposing of clothing.

Would you believe that the average US of American throws away 36 kg of clothes each year, and the average European, 11 kg? When you consider that 7,000 litres of water (not to mention energy, dyes and other chemicals, plastics and labour) are used to produce a pair of jeans, such waste becomes even more shocking. Still, less than 1% of all apparel is recycled into new clothing - the microfibres and chemicals in the textiles limit their potential for recycling - even where the facilities exist.

In Down the Drain 2, We speak again with microbiologist and water resources expert Dr Eunice Ubomba-Jaswa about how fashion, fast or not, affects our water systems – their quality and quantity – and thus, our health, and the environment. We explore these issues, and look at what we can do to reduce the impacts of fashion production, wearing and washing.

The impacts of our fashion addiction begin when the textile is made. Growing cotton, linen and other natural fibres requires water; as does manufacturing synthetic fibres. Manufacturing fibres and cloth not only use water, but also a number of chemicals, many of which end up in water systems. The clothes that arrive in your home still have chemicals on them, which can end up on your skin. Washing clothes uses water, releases chemicals, and, we are increasingly aware, microfibres by the billions. Once again, we breathe these in at home, and many also go down the drain, impacting our water systems, and the ecosystems
downstream.

In the next episode we cover how businesses are better organizing themselves...

and we'll return to textiles and fashion in the future!

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